Extension-step for railway-cars.



A. E. SEIBEHT.

EXTENSION STEP FOR RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4. i915.

1,168,339. Patented Ja11.18, 1916.

A'Eswm:

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON. n. c.

fill @TATE% ALBERT E. SEIBERT, E TOPEKA, KANSAS.

EXTENSIDN-STEP FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Application filed March 4, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT E. SEIBERT, acitizen of the United States, residing at T0- peka, in the county ofShawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Extension-Steps for Railway-Cars; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in extension stepsfor railway cars and has for its object to provide a simple and efective device of this character which may be cheaply made and installedand will take up comparatively small space when in folded position sothat the desired clearance of the steps relative to the road bed isprovided.

Another object is to provide an extension step of the characterdescribed that is provided with novel means including an operatinghandle to move it into and out of position, said operating handle beingso arranged that when the step is in operative position it is disposedabove the floor of the platform of the car to which it is attached andin a position where it will be readily seen by the porter or some othermember of the train crew, thus the operating handle acts as a signal andindicates that the step is extended and prevents the usual trap doorfound on car platforms from being closed before the step is in out ofthe way position.

Another object is to generally improve and simplify extension car stepsof the chara ter described so as to render them more practical, reliableand efiicient-in operation and commercially desirable.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the followingspecification and then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

lVith reference to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, andthr ughout the several views of which similar reference numeralsdesignate corre sponding parts, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional Viewtaken through a car platform showing the steps therefor in sideelevation and the extension step in position. Fig. 2 is an enlargeddetail front elevation of a part of the operating means for the step,and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 18, 1916.

Serial No. 12,621.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view showing one of the steps or latchesfor holding the operating lever in its true position.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference the numeral 1designates as an entirety a car platform having depending from which theusual stationary steps 2. An extension step 3 is pivoted, as at 4, tothe outer edge of the lowermost of the stationary steps and is arrangedto be swung inwardly so that the riser portion thereof engages the underface of the lowermost step, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Pivoted to a suitable bearing 5 that is secured to the uppermost of thesteps 2 is an operating lever 6 that is bent to form an eye or loop 7 atits upper en The lower end of the lever 6 is provided with an aperture 7which receives one end of a horizontal crank shaft 8. A suitable key 9is employed to rigidly secure the lever 6 to the crank shaft 8. Suitablebearings 10 carried by the uppermost steps of the stationary steps 2support the crank shaft 8. rod 11 is secu ed at one end by means of acoupling member 12, pivotally to the cranks and its other end isconnected with a T coupling 13. Connected with the T coupling l3 andextending outwardly at right angles to the rod 11 on opposite sides ofthe coupling 13 are pivot rods l-l and 15 that are journaled at theirends in suitable bearings 16 secured upon the lower parts of theextension step 8.

As a means for locking the operating lever 6 in its true position Iprovide catches mounted upon the car platform 1 and which are designated17 and 18 respectively. Each of these catches comprises a block having abeveled outer face and which is secured by suitable fastening elements18 to the platform. The lever 6 is arranged to ride over the bevel faceof the caches and to engage behind the larger end thereof, as clearlyshown in Fig. 3.

In operation when it is desired to move the steps from out of the wayposition, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, to extended position, asshown in Fig. 1, the lever 6 is pulled outwardly from engagement withthe catch 18 and upwardly into vertical position so that it extendsupwardly from the floor of the platform 1. The upward pull communicatedwith the lever 6 causes the shaft 8 to rock and force the steps 3 intoextended position. When the steps 3 are in A connecting extendedposition, the upper end of the lever 6 projects above the platform 1,and such as a means for indicating that the steps are in an extendedposition, whereby to obviate any liability of the trap door being closedbefore the steps have been drawn back into their out of the wayposition. ,The rods 14:

and 15 are preferably removable and it will be readily seen that thedevice may be completely disassembled and packed into small space. Theoperating mechanism for the step is so arranged that the step may bemoved easily into and out of position.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated inthedrawings and referred to in the above description. as the preferredembodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that theconditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarilyvary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes indetail of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages ofmy invention, as set forth.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a railway car platform and set of stationarysteps, of an extension step pivoted to the lowermost of the stationarysteps and arranged-to swing inwardly underneath the lowermost of thestationary steps when in out of the way position, a crank shaftjournaled to the uppermost of the steps, a lever secured to one end ofthe crank shaft and extending above the car platform when the step is inextended position and arranged to be disposed beneath the platform whenthe step is in out of the way position, means to hold the lever in itstwo positions, and means operatively connecting the crank shaft with thesteps.

2. The combination with a railway car platform and set of stationarysteps, of an extension step pivoted to the lowermost of the stationarysteps and arranged to swing outwardly under the lowermost of the sta-Copies of this patent may be tionary steps when in out of the wayposition, a crank shaft journaled to the uppermost of the steps, a leversecured to one en of the crank shaft and extending above the carplatform when the step is in extended position and arranged to bedisposed beneath the platform when the step is in out of the wayposition, means to hold the lever in its two positions, and meansoperatively connecting the crank shaft with the steps consisting of arod pivoted to said crank shaft and right angularly extending rodssecured to the lower end of said rod andbeing pivoted to the extensionstep at the ends thereof.

3. The combination with the stationary steps of the railway tie andplatform therefor, of an extension step pivoted to the lowermost of thestationary steps and arranged to swing inwardly beneath and inengagement with the lowermost step of the stationary steps, a crankshaft journaled transversely to the uppermost of the steps, a rodpivotally secured at one end to the crank shaft at a point approximatelycentrally of the same and extending downwardly toward the extensionstep, a T coupling secured to the lower end of said rod, rightangularlyextending rods connected with the T coupling, bearings secured to theextension step adjacent the ends and upon the under face thereof andreceiving the ends of said last named rods, a lever secured to one endof said crank shaft and arranged to extend upwardly through the platformfloor when the step is in extended position and to be disposed beneaththe floor of the platform when the step is in out of the way position,and means to hold the lever in its two positions.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of witnesses.

ALBERT E. SEIBERT.

Witnesses:

ROBERT STONE, U. S. G. lViLLIS,

KATHERINE LORD.

obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

